Faith, Religion & Spiritual Autonomy
How do we hold our inherited faith with love while thinking freely for ourselves?
There is a difference between spirituality and control. For centuries, religion was used both to comfort our people and to keep us obedient. Today many wrestle with a question: how do I keep what is true and nourishing in my faith, while releasing the fear, shame and self-hatred that were smuggled in with it? Spiritual autonomy is the right to seek God with your own two eyes open. Tell us — how do you balance tradition and freedom? What questions were you told never to ask, and what happened when you finally asked them?
2 Voices in the Circle
Raised C.O.G.I.C. and I still love the church that raised me. But I had to release the fear-based God I was handed and meet a God who isn't disappointed in me for asking questions. Both things can be true.
The question I was told never to ask: 'where were our people spiritually before 1619?' When I finally researched it, my faith got bigger, not smaller. Truth doesn't threaten God.